This is story #25 in the series “Where Exactly is Home?”. The author recommends you read them in order.
Introduction:
“Where Exactly is Home?” follows the story of my parents, my two younger brothers and me, Susan, who emigrated from war-battered Britain, in the mid-late 1950’s, to Southern Rhodesia, Africa.
The effects of this move on our family were huge, as we struggled to adapt to such a different way of life. Only after further upheaval, and more long-distance travelling, did our family eventually settle in the city of Salisbury, Rhodesia.
However, we did not know then that we would not remain there for the rest of our lives, either.
When the family first went to Africa, I, Susan, was 9 years old. My two brothers, John and Peter, were almost 7 and 4, respectively.
Nowadays, as seniors, John and Peter live in England. I live in Canada. Throughout our lives, we have both benefitted from, and suffered because of, our somewhat unusual childhood.
I, for one, still sometimes ask myself which country represents home to me.
This is a series of stories under the title “Where Exactly is Home?” – I recommend you read them in order, starting with story #1.
28. A Dress I Will Never Forget
I rarely had any store-bought clothes when I was growing up. We children, whether living in Britain or in Southern Rhodesia, wore school uniform for most of our young lives. We didn’t need to think about what to wear on schooldays. There was no choice. We wore our school uniforms five days a week from the time we started school at age 5 till the day we left at 16, 17 or 18.
What about the weekends, then? And during the school holidays? Didn’t we need different clothes then?
Yes, we did, but not many, since our family rarely went anywhere special, and the school holidays were short, too. The climate was more consistent following the expected norms. A summer’s day in Britain could be almost as cold as many a winter’s day. Not so now, though. Climate change has brought huge swings and heat waves almost unheard of till a few years ago. When our family was living in Africa, we didn’t need anywhere near as many clothes as in Britain because winters were mild, with nothing like the freezing temperatures of the UK and, even more so, of Ottawa, Canada, where I live now. For us children, school uniform was the order of the day Monday through Friday. We had a couple of extra outfits for weekends and the holidays, but that was all. Living in a country where the hot African sun meant it was easy to wash and dry items, reinforced the fact that we did not need a large closet filled with different items. A few clothes did us all year round.
